Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small.

Archaeology and anthropology together encompass the study of humankind from the origins of the human species to the present day. Both disciplines have a long history: archaeology grew from 18th-century antiquarianism, while anthropology began even earlier in the first days of colonial encounter. Today, both subjects involve a range of sophisticated approaches shared with the arts, social sciences and physical sciences.

">Video of Archaeology and Anthropology at Oxford University

Oxford’s distinctive combination of archaeology and anthropology, pursued over three years, offers an unusually broad perspective on human societies from earliest prehistory to the present. The course offers a comprehensive guide to the richness and diversity of human cultural experience throughout space and time. By choosing to study here you will be able to:

explore how humans evolved

get to grips with major transformational processes in human history such as the development of farming, the emergence of towns and trading systems and the spread of world religions

learn why societies structure their families, economies and political systems in the ways that they do

investigate how material culture represents and reproduces beliefs and ideologies.

Fieldwork/work placements/international opportunities

As part of your course you must undertake a minimum of four weeks of fieldwork (subject to approval by your tutors), which is normally completed in the summer vacation at the end of your first year. This can take place in the field (for example, an archaeological excavation or survey) or in a laboratory or museum. It may include anthropological as well as archaeological projects and at its conclusion you will be required to complete a (non-assessed) report on what you have done and its significance. Recent destinations include archaeological digs in Georgia, Ireland, and Lesotho, an anthropological field school in New York, and internships at the British Museum.

Financial support for your fieldwork is available from the University and may also be available from your college. You may also choose to engage in further fieldwork as part of your final-year dissertation, while other opportunities may exist for work-based learning in the University’s own museums.

“I love studying Arch and Anth because it’s such a diverse course. No two days are the same and you get to study so many fascinating things: last week for example, I had a lecture on geology and stratigraphy, went to the library to do some reading on witchcraft, and then had a tutorial about the rise of early states and empires. I also spent three hours writing a paragraph about the presence of ancient bananas in New Guinea and what this showed us!” IZZY

“Choosing Archaeology and Anthropology, for me, was about the amazing breadth of the subject. I had always favoured history and the biology in school, and this degree offers ways to not only combine the two, but also to look at both history and science from a completely new angle… With my degree, I’ve had the opportunity for field trips, field work in southern England, and am planning on several months in South America...” ERIN

“The remit for Arch and Anth is essentially every human society in the world both today and throughout the whole of history. You can pretty much study anything within that, which is so exciting! I'd thought it would focus on the big civilisations (Greece, Rome, Inca, Maya, Egypt etc) but actually some of the most interesting stuff turned out to be the slightly more obscure areas, such as gift exchange in modern Japan.” NATASHA

Archaeology and Anthropology

A typical week

Your timetable will be divided into lectures, tutorials and practical classes (on topics such as dating, isotope analysis, and the analysis of plant, animal and human remains, as well as artefacts). In the first year you will spend around six hours a week in lectures, which focus on the course’s core papers. In Years 2 and 3, lectures for core and optional papers take up around ten hours a week. Throughout the course, there are one or two tutorials a week, normally taught in a pair (typically a total of twelve in each term).

Tutorials are usually two students and a tutor, but may include up to three students depending on circumstances. Lectures will include the whole year group of around 25 students, although they are sometimes shared with Human Sciences students and are therefore larger. Lecture sizes for optional courses are normally smaller and could be as low as 3-6 students.

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by postgraduate students who are usually studying at doctorate level.

To find out more about how our teaching year is structured, visit our Academic Year page.

Course structure

YEAR 1

COURSES

Four core courses are taken:

Introduction to world archaeology

Introduction to anthropological theory

Perspectives on human evolution

The nature of archaeological and anthropological enquiry

Practical classes

Fieldwork

ASSESSMENT

First University examinations: four written papers

YEARS 2 AND 3

COURSES

Four core courses are taken:

Social analysis and interpretation

Cultural representations, beliefs and practices

Landscape and ecology

Urbanism and society

Options (three from a broad range of anthropological and archaeological courses)

Applying

All candidates must follow the application procedure as shown in applying to Oxford. The information below gives specific details for students applying for this course.

Admissions test

You do not need to take a written test as part of an application for this course.

Written work

Description:

As part of your application all candidates are required to submit the following:

Two recently-marked essays, each written as part of a school or college course within a two-week period or less and preferably in different subjects. You have the option of submitting an additional piece of work composed over a longer period of time if you so wish.

A short essay of no more than 500 words in response to the following question: What can we learn about people, EITHER past OR present, from their material culture?

What are tutors looking for?

Tutors are primarily looking for an interest in, and enthusiasm for, the study of humans and their material culture, combined with an ability to digest and assimilate significant quantities of data and to construct evidence-based arguments. While you don’t need to have prior experience of studying archaeology or anthropology, fieldwork experience and evidence of supplementary reading would be seen as one possible demonstration of your interest and commitment. Tutors will be looking for the following qualities at interview:

an ability to think independently

potential and motivation for studying archaeology and anthropology

enthusiasm and interest in the combined disciplines

commitment to the requirements of the course.

For more detail on the selection criteria for this course, please see the Archaeology website.

Careers

Archaeology and Anthropology opens up a wide range of career opportunities, in part because the degree offers a unique perspective on how human societies operate and develop and on how people interact with each other. This is also due to the intellectually demanding requirements of an Oxford degree, and to the combination of independent study and tutorial teaching. Graduates of this course have found opportunities in heritage management, international development, education, the law, the media and the Civil Service among other careers.

Oxford University is committed to recruiting the best and brightest students from all backgrounds. We offer a generous package of financial support to Home/EU students from lower-income households. (UK nationals living in the UK are usually Home students.)

Latest information for UK and EUundergraduates who will begin their course in 2020 can be found here. Further information for EU students starting in 2020 is available here.

Fees

These annual fees are for full-time students who begin this undergraduate course here in 2020.

Living costs

Living costs for the academic year starting in 2020 are estimated to be between £1,135 and £1,650 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.

Financial support

Home/EU

A tuition fee loan is available from the UK government to cover course fees in full for Home (UK)/EU students undertaking their first undergraduate degree*, so you don’t need to pay your course fees up front.

In 2020 Oxford is offering one of the most generous bursary packages of any UK university to UK and EU students with a family income of around £42,875 or less, with additional opportunities available to UK students from households with incomes of £27,500 or less. This support is available in addition to the government living costs support. See further details.

Islands(Channel Islands and Isle of Man)

Islands students are entitled to different support to that of students from the rest of the UK.

Please refer the links below for information on the support to you available from your funding agency:

*If you have studied at undergraduate level before and completed your course, you will be classed as an Equivalent or Lower Qualification student (ELQ) and won’t be eligible to receive government or Oxford funding

Additional Fees and Charges Information for Archaeology and Anthropology

Students must complete at least four weeks of approved fieldwork by the end of the second year. The cost of this will depend on the location. Funding is available from the University and potentially from your college to help towards costs.

Contextual information

Course data fromDiscover Uni provides applicants with statistics about undergraduate life at Oxford. But there is so much more to an Oxford degree that the numbers can’t convey.

The Oxford tutorial

College tutorials are central to teaching at Oxford. Typically, they take place in your college and are led by your academic tutor(s) who teach as well as do their own research. Students will also receive teaching in a variety of other ways, depending on the course. This will include lectures and classes, and may include laboratory work and fieldwork. However, tutorials offer a level of personalised attention from academic experts unavailable at most universities.

During tutorials (normally lasting an hour), college subject tutors will give you and one or two tutorial partners feedback on prepared work and cover a topic in depth. The other student(s) in your college tutorials will be from your year group, doing the same course as you and will normally be at your college. Such regular and rigorous academic discussion develops and facilitates learning in a way that isn’t possible through lectures alone. Tutorials also allow for close progress monitoring so tutors can quickly provide additional support if necessary.

Our colleges are at the heart of Oxford’s reputation as one of the best universities in the world.

At Oxford, everyone is a member of a college as well as their subject department(s) and the University. Students therefore have both the benefits of belonging to a large, renowned institution and to a small and friendly academic community. Each college or hall is made up of academic and support staff, and students. Colleges provide a safe, supportive environment leaving you free to focus on your studies, enjoy time with friends and make the most of the huge variety of opportunities.

Each college has a unique character, but generally their facilities are similar. Each one, large or small, will have the following essential facilities:

Porters’ lodge (a staffed entrance and reception)

Dining hall

Lending library (often open 24/7 in term time)

Student accommodation

Tutors’ teaching rooms

Chapel and/or music rooms

Laundry

Green spaces

Common room (known as the JCR).

All first year students are offered college accommodation either on the main site of their college or in a nearby college annexe. This means that your neighbours will also be ‘freshers’ and new to life at Oxford. This accommodation is guaranteed, so you don’t need to worry about finding somewhere to live after accepting a place here, all of this is organised for you before you arrive.

All colleges offer at least one further year of accommodation and some offer it for the entire duration of your degree. You may choose to take up the option to live in your college for the whole of your time at Oxford, or you might decide to arrange your own accommodation after your first year – perhaps because you want to live with friends from other colleges.

While college academic tutors primarily support your academic development, you can also ask their advice on other things. Lots of other college staff including welfare officers help students settle in and are available to offer guidance on practical or health matters. Current students also actively support students in earlier years, sometimes as part of a college ‘family’ or as peer supporters trained by the University’s Counselling Service.